The Lifelong Benefits of Equestrian Summer Camps Written By: Shya Beth When thinking of summer camps, your
experience of life on farms and building
Saddle Up
mind might instantly conjure up memo-
fires while camping in the woods. With
For kids attending a horse or pony camp,
ries of hot summer days filled with friends,
around a hundred summer camps in
it can be a dream come true. From rising at
ponies and new experiences. While these
existence in 1900, just eight years later
dawn to spending all day at the barn, rid-
summers create memories that last for a
there were over a thousand. Now, over
ing different horses, making horsey friends
lifetime, they also give benefits that range
a hundred years later, there are over
and improving their in the ground skills
from riding skills and stable management
15,000 day and overnight camps attended
to getting their first experiences in the
to discipline and confidence, responsibility
by over 11 million children and adults
saddle, camps are largely the first step for
and so many other valuable assets.
annually, as reported by New York Times.
many future riders.
Summer camps have always been about
It’s no wonder that there are hundreds
learning and escaping day-to-day life,
of equestrian-themed camps, from trail
Starting in the morning, most camps teach
with the first summer camps in the late
riding to hunter/jumper, polo and pony
their students from the ground up: Kids first
1800s giving boys living in urban areas an
camps across America.
learn how to greet, brush, tack up and behave
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Spring 2022 | Riding Instructor
